Pint-sized Pour: El Conquistador

Fine line: Summer is the season for quaffable brews, effervescent beers that tease the tongue without weighing you down. One problem: Often, these light-bodied “session beers” disappoint with light flavors. But Mission Brewery’s new extra pale ale, El Conquistador, successfully invades this treacherous territory.

No resistance: I surrendered to Conquistador’s aroma, a seductive blend of herbs, citrus and pine. This accurately previewed the ale’s flavors, too, with lemon rind and grass up front and lightly toasted bread in the background. Everything’s brisk, bright and framed by a welcome hop bitterness.

Dead and loving it: Don’t be put off by the label, dominated by a skull in a Spanish helmet that appears to have been hit with a “CSI”-worthy blood-spatter pattern. Despite the grim image, this is an upbeat, lighthearted beer.